Furnish ULB reservation list: HC to govt

The High Court on Thursday directed the State government to furnish the reservation list, necessary for conducting general elections for more than 200 urban local bodies, to the State Election Commission (SEC) within two weeks.

After hearing a writ petition filed by the SEC, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen and Justice B V Nagarathna, said that if the State misses the two-week deadline, then the Principal Secretary of Urban Development Department should be present in person in the court hall during the next hearing. 

The term of as many as 209 urban local bodies (out of 214) are set to end in February/March 2013, and preparations should have begun by this stage, for general elections.

However, the State government is yet to submit the reservation list to the SEC, despite repeated correspondence dating to April 2012.

With having no recourse left, the SEC filed the writ petition in the High Court seeking its
direction on the future course of action. The SEC, in its submission, has also said that the delay caused in the conduct of elections due to the non-submission of the reservation list will also help elucidate a judgement pronounced by the Supreme Court in the Kishan Singh Tomar case.

The list of urban local bodies (ULBs) include eight corporations, 44 city municipalities, 94 municipalities, 68 town panchayats.

The number of wards in these bodies total up to 5,269. Except for the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and four other urban local bodies, the remaining units have to seek a fresh mandate as their term ends in February/March 2013.